Nottingham Advisors now has their very own ETF Strategist page on ETFtrends.com. Moving forward we will be providing thought leadership and publications on various topics within the ETF and investment industry. In our debut, Portfolio Manager Matthew Krajna, CFA discusses managing volatility within an investment portfolio. Click here to read the full article!

Portfolio Manager Matthew Krajna, CFA is featured in the Wall Street Journal and provides commentary on how currency ETFs can be utilized in one’s investment portfolio to take advantage of the Dollar’s growing strength, in the article, “Betting on the Buck” by Ari Weinberg.

Featured in ETF.com, Chief Investment Officer Larry Whistler provides insight for one of the most important measures of Fixed Income risk in his article, “It Really Is Time To Understand Duration.”

As the Federal Reserve embarks on its long-awaited interest rate “normalization” voyage, portfolio managers need to prepare their portfolios for the journey. As passengers on this ship, intended or not, bond holders everywhere will feel the sting of rising rates for the first time in nearly 10 years.

We’ve noticed a certain complacency having set in in the fixed-income arena, with few investors properly acknowledging that, indeed, one can lose money in bonds!

We suggest investors divorce themselves from the idea that liabilities must be funded by income and income alone. Instead, it’s important to remember there are two ways to generate portfolio returns: either via income or capital gains. What’s more, it’s our view that the current environment has actually skewed return profiles toward the latter, at least in the near term.

Since 2009, quantitative easing has been the response of choice for deflation-fighting central bankers around the world. At its core, QE is specifically designed to suppress yields in an effort to push investors further out on the risk spectrum to reflate asset prices. By their very design, these programs tilt the scale away from income and toward capital gains. It’s suggested that investors shouldn’t “fight” central bankers, and pursuing yield alone in this environment feels a little bit like that.

With the Fed officially ending its QE program in 2014, the United States is now a tough environment for income-seekers and total return-seekers alike. Instead, we suggest investors look abroad. Consider the iShares MSCI EAFE Minimum Volatility ETF (EFAV | B-64), which yields just more than 3.0%. Roughly 40% of the fund is allocated to Japan and the eurozone.

Both are areas that have reasonable valuations, and central bankers are still aggressively pursuing QE, suggesting future gains will more than make up for the shortfall in any 5% yield bogey. As an added bonus, the product is even designed to have a lower-volatility profile—a favorable attribute for most income investors.